


Emily Winchester

by slowstitch



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Canon Divergence, Winsister, hey look another sister fic, the winchesters have a sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-11-18
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:55:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowstitch/pseuds/slowstitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Mary and John Winchester didn't stop at two children? This is the story of their third child, Emily and how she and her brothers Sam and Dean take on all sorts of crazy as they fight to find their father and avenge their mother.<br/>(Basically, how would supernatural be different if they had a sister)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_Mary_

They say the small mercy of childbirth is that you forget the pain afterwards. There must have been some truth to it because _jesus christ did it hurt_.

Surely giving birth to my sons hadn't been anywhere near as agonising as this. No it couldn't have been, I would have remembered and I wouldn't have willingly opted to go through it all again and _shit here comes another one okay just breathe just breathe_. Pain lanced through my abdomen and I groaned as I clutched onto John's hand for dear life, my legs trembling with exertion. 

I could see the nurses and the midwifes lips moving but couldn't focus on what they were saying although I was pretty sure it was something along the lines of 'push' or 'breathe'. Everything was overwhelmingly intense, my chest heaving, blood pounding in my ears, the stifling sheen of sweat and the terrifying weight and strain and pain between my legs.

I could feel the next contraction cresting and I threw everything I had into pushing with it, baring down until the weight in my lower half suddenly lifted and the breath stole from my lungs with a strangled cry. 

Immediately I collapsed back against the pillows, a giddy grin and relieved tears on my face. John was laughing, eyes bright with tears as he kissed my hand, though I couldn't process what he was saying over the pounding in my ears as I tried to recover my breathing.

 _I did it!_ The peircing wail of a new born rang out and I gave a shaky chuckle and corrected myself. _No, we did it._

 

***

_Dean_

I'll always remember the day Mom and Dad brought Emily home.

I was sat in Mrs. Lane's living room with a baby Sammy in his carrier sat next to me on the floor while Mrs. Lane herself was nattering away on the phone to someone or other. I didn't really like our neighbour, she ruffled my hair too much and liked to pinch my cheeks, but I promised Daddy I would behave while him and Mommy went to the hospital so I had to be polite.

To distract me from the fact my Mommy was in hospital, I entertained Sammy by pulling silly faces and showing him pictures I had drawn of him. It always made me happiest to make Sam smile his gummy grin or laugh his funny baby giggle.

A while later I was sitting against the sofa singing Sammy a tune Mommy always sang to me at night. The words said some stuff about angels but I couldn’t quite remember all of it so I just hummed the rest . I saw Sammy yawn and flail his chubby hands and feet and I tried not to get sleepy myself.

I was just about to give up when there was a knock at the door. Trying not to wake Sam up in my rush to get up, I lunged for the door handle, ignoring Mrs. Lane's calls. I swung open the door and Daddy stood there a huge smile on his face. I always loved that smile because it meant everything was ok.

"Daddy!" I laughed, throwing myself at him. He spun me around, laughing with me until he held me up and asked where Sammy was because there was someone very important we needed to meet at home.

Daddy carried a snoozing Sam home and put him in his cot. A bit away from Sammy’s cot stood another, slightly smaller one. When Daddy had first told me I would be a big brother again I helped him put together the new cot and make the new mobile that hung over it. I told Sammy ‘sweet dreams’ then followed Dad out of the nursery.

Then he took my hand and led me to his and Mommy’s room.

Mommy sat on the edge of her big bed, smiling at a small bundle of blankets in her arms. She looked up at me and her smile got bigger.

"Hey baby." She said quietly, one arm outstretched. "Come see who I've got here." There was that excitement in her voice and smile that normally meant she'd snuck me an extra bit of pudding or had decided they were camping out in the living room overnight. 

I wanted to go to her but I didn't want to scare or hurt the baby, Daddy had always warned me that babies were very fragile so should be treated with extra care. I snuck a quick look up at Daddy to check. He ruffled my hair and nudged me forward with a grin. 

"Come on Dean, she's desperate to meet you!" Mommy beckoned me forward.

Her mood was contagious and I grinned back at her in adoration, pushing away my fear. Once I was up on the bed Mommy carefully passed the bundle into my arms and I held my breath. Tiny arms flailed out of the blankets and a chubby pink face made the weirdest expressions up at me. 

I giggled and leaned over the baby, trying to learn her features.

"Hello, my name's Dean. I'm your new big brother." I beamed up at Mommy. "What's her name?" 

A tiny hand grasped at the front of my jumper and I giggled again, giving the baby my finger to hold onto instead. It was a pretty tough grip for such a little person, which only made me laugh some more.

"Her name's Emily, your new baby sister."

  
***

_John_

I awoke to the sound of a scream.

Lunging out of the armchair I sprinted upstairs before i was even fully aware I was moving. 

"Mary?!" I called out, charging into the nursery. I looked about frantically, the shroud of sleep disappearing as my heart thudded in fright. She wasn't there. Seeing no immediate danger in the quiet nursery I began to calm down, my brain having already convinced itself I'd imagined the scream or the TV had woken me up. 

I rubbed my eyes blearily, moving on auto-pilot to check on the babies. Emily was dozing and gurgling contentedly and after weeks of trying to get her to sleep at night I wasn't about to disturb her. I was lucky enough that my shout hadn't woken her. I walked quietly over to Sam’s cot. Sam had just turned 1 that day, and he looked bleary eyed from being woken up but remained quiet.

Sam gurgled something that sounded suspiciously like an actual word and I leant closer to hear when a speck of red landed on my son’s cheek. I touched my finger softly to Sam’s cheek coming away with an unmistakable red sheen. _Paint?_ Another drop fell next to the first and Sam squirmed uncomfortably eyes drifting to something above my head.

Confused, I turned and glanced up at the ceiling. What I saw would haunt me forever.

Mary was pinned to the ceiling wide-eyed and mouth open in a silent scream. Her stomach was a garish stain of red, sliced clean open beneath her white night gown. Someone screamed Mary's name but all I knew was the heart stopping fear that threatened to swallow me whole, my eyes fixed on her's.

Then she burst into flames.

The fire quickly engulfed the ceiling and begun spreading rapidly towards my children’s cots. That was enough to get me moving when all I wanted to do was stay with Mary. She would never forgive me if I did. I had to get them out of here. 

I hastily grabbed up Sam then lunged for Emily’s crib. Both children were now wailing but above the chaos and noise I could still hear the same strangled cries for Mary.

“..ad! Dad! DAD!” I made it into the hallway, a baby in each arm, finding Dean stood clutching the bannister, looking confused and terrified. The knife in my heart gave a viscious twist. 

“Dean we have to go, now! Move son, move!” But my son was stood frozen staring at the flames roaring behind me.

“Where’s Mommy?” He yelled, eyes widening and filling with tears. Grief tore through me and I nearly fell to my knees there and then but his was no time for weakness. They had to get out now.

“On my back, Dean! Now!” I bent down so Dean could clamber onto my back and clutching Sam and Emily tight to my chest, I made for the front door as fast as I could.

I had just made it across the front lawn when the upstairs of our home exploded into flames, glass and debris raining down. 

When I felt we were at a safe distance I set a silent, trembling Dean down and cradled my two youngest close to my chest trying to focus on my children instead of what had just happened. My ears rang and an unnerving numbness had settled in my chest. 

I could hear sirens in the distance and a few shouts of alarm from passers-by, the house still burnt and crumbled behind me, with Mary burning and bleeding with it. I hugged my children tighter resting my cheek on Dean’s head, my son now burying his face in my chest but still silent.

It was the single longest night of my life and when morning finally came I was sure of only one thing.

What had just happened to my family wasn’t natural and it was no accident. Someone, or something, had killed my wife and rendered my three children motherless and they would have hell to pay.

I would personally make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor john i mean now you got three kids to look after  
> damn son  
> p.s dean was 5 in this chapter just in case anyone wondered


	2. Seduction trumps torture

Emily’s POV - 21 years old.

 

"So sweetcheeks, can I get y'another drink?" The guy slurred not even bothering to be subtle about staring at my chest now. Using this to my advantage I took a deep breath in and leant forward pouting slightly. I had to rein in laughter when his jaw dropped. The guy I was talking to wasn't too harsh on the eyes, but was harsh on all the other senses. He stank of alcohol and his voice was the sort that really gets under your skin and makes you feel unclean all over.

"I'd love one," I said. "Once you've told me about this interesting man you said keeps bothering you." At the mention of another man sat up straight, chest puffing up. Exactly the reaction I’d been looking for.

"He's nothing special, just pops up every now n'again talking about death and stuff." I smiled pretending I liked what I heard. The guy noticed and immediately backpedalled. "He was real pale though and I swear he wore makeup from the black around his eyes. Quiet as well, barely 'ear him walking up behind me. Then when I turn back again he's gone. Damn freak."

Pale, disappearing, speaks about death a lot? Sounds like a restless spirit to me which also sounds like my kind of job.

I was raised knowing about the weird and scary. My father brought my brothers and I up knowing how to fight and kill things like spirits, monsters, shapeshifters etc... It sounds surreal I know, but having lived with it all my life, cleaning guns, sharpening knives and saving people from stuff they can't explain is second nature to me now.

Tonight I was getting my claws into a possible vengeful spirit case but from the looks of it so far I’d say it was more of a death omen. Should be easy enough to clear up.

Thanking the guy for his information I hopped off the barstool and went to walk away. But before I could get away I felt a hand grip my forearm and yank me back.

"Notso fast, ya'tease." The man grinned, pulling me up to him until I was scrunching my nose against the reek of beer on his breath.

Now, seduction is by far the easiest way to get information from someone aside from torture but I tend not to use that in public places, however it can be the trickiest to get out of. With torture, you can knock them out or leave them somewhere and it's problem solved, but with seduction guys sometimes aren't willing to let me walk away.

I'm confident in myself and understand why I could be found attractive to guys. I have shoulder length blonde hair that I usually wear up but on jobs like these I tend to let it down, I’m pretty slim but well-toned from all the fighting and killing and such and I have very dark green eyes. But I was lacking one thing I thought really hooked a man, cleavage. I mean they were definitely there just not as big as I would have liked. Ah well.

Anyway, sometimes things can get hairy in a seduce-for-info-then-leave plan.

"You don't want to do that." I said coolly, smiling up at the man. He wasn't getting the hint and his hands moved down to my backside. I tried to shove away from him but he just pulled me back. As much as I would have liked to knee him in the groin or give him a good right hook to the kisser I needed to maintain a low profile.

Before I could attempt to persuade the crazy drunk to stop touching me, said drunk was yanked up by the collar of his t-shirt and lobbed to the floor by none other than my older brother Dean. So much for a low profile.

Dean was the oldest out me and my brothers and didn't tend to react well when his darling baby sister got touched up, even if it was for a hunt. He was taller than me by half-a-head and had short mousy brown hair. Usually his expression was one of amusement or deliberation but right then his face was taught with anger as he glared at the guy on the floor.

"Touch her again and it'll be the last thing you ever do." He snarled before grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the bar, away from the watchful eyes of shocked bystanders.

Well this was gonna be fun...

 

*

 

"Dean..." I sighed. At one point or another he was just gonna have to accept I wasn't a little girl anymore. If I was being fair I'd accept that had spent all his life looking out for me and Sammy so an instinct buried that deep would be hard to ignore. But I wasn't being fair so he could at least try. 

"Don't 'Dean' me Ems, you know I hate it when you have to act like that." He let go of my hand and leaned against the Impala, folding his arms.

"Who says it was an act?" I smirked flicking my hair and winking at him. A smile tugged at his lips and finally he broke into a grin. Much better. I knew my brother too well.

"Fine, I won't go kill that son of a bitch... tonight. Anyway what I really wanted with you before you got caught up in all-" He checked himself and jerked his chin to the bar. "that, I got a call from Dad."

.

A call from Dad was rare so when he did call it was reason to be worried. When Dean played back the message the worry doubled.

"Dean," his voice was muffled and tinny but I could still hear the undertone of anxiety and warning in it. "something big is starting to happen, I think it's serious. I need to try and find out what's going on. Be very careful Dean, we're all in danger." 

When I handed the tape recorder back to my brother I came away with shaky hands. I rubbed them against my legs trying to stop them trembling and turned to Dean who was studying my reaction.

"There's EVP on that." I murmured. We had both become uneasy when we hadn't seen dad in 3 weeks but we assumed he had just been working a tough case however this had really made me restless. Something was definitely wrong and we needed to find our father.

Dean rewound the recorder and stopped it. "I slowed the message down and ran in through a Goldwave, took out the hiss and this is what I got."

He played it again and an eerie voice raised the hairs on the back of my neck. "I can never go home."

Well that couldn't be good.

"Dean, what do we do?" I asked my big brother, sure that he had a plan. He always had a plan. He met my eyes, uncertainty wavering in them and my stomach began to hurt.

"Ems, he didn't tell me where he was going, he didn't leave us any clues apart from the message." He sounded fine but I knew he was just as worried as me underneath the brave facade he wore to keep me calm.

Panic crept into my thoughts and they blurred before I could formulate a plan of action. I stood up straight taking a deep breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. This had happened before, Dad going missing and all, but it had never come with this gut deep feeling that something was wrong. It made me physically sick to think of my Dad in a situation he couldn't handle. If he couldn't handle it who could? Me and Dean? Our father was the best of the best, if he can't handle what he's hunting what makes him think we cou-

A hand squeezed my shoulder and interrupted my dark thoughts. He held me at arms-length, both hands now on my shoulders and watched my face, giving me a small reassuring smile. I stood there for a few more seconds, letting myself be comforted by my big brother before composing myself and stepping away from him.

"Sorry." I said, clearing my throat awkwardly.

"Anytime Ems. You know that." Dean yanked me to his side and put an arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah I know." I smiled up at him feeling my confidence return.

“Atta girl.” Dean laughed letting me go with a ruffle of my hair. I groaned irritably.

“Dean, I’m 21 years old! Stop doing that!”

He merely laughed and headed for the driver’s door.

I shook my head and popped the boot, yanking out my bag of clean clothes. For the seduction mission I had worn an uncomfortably tight tank top with a ridiculously low neckline with my shortest denim skirt. Not the most practical thing to travel in for more than an hour.

"I'm gonna go get changed in the bathroom." I told Dean heading towards the bar again.

"Just stay away from that creep Ems. And yes that is an order." I could hear the smirk in his voice and chuckled as I neared the door.

"Oh and Emily?" I turned at the use of my full name. Dean was leant back against the door of his car biting his lip like he was making a hard decision.

"Yeah Dean?" I called back to him, curious now.

"We might need all the help we can get on this one." My stomach panged again as I realised what he meant.

We needed Sam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Readers, meet Emily, Emily, readers.  
> I hope you guys like her because i do and she is my baby :3:  
> WE ABOUT TO CRACK THIS THING WIDE OPEN we're gonna get into the woman in white case then it should start jumping through hunts and seasons i hoooope  
> thanks for reading!


	3. Breaking and entering

I pulled the Impala door shut behind me and settled into the worn leather seats of my brothers car. I had changed into my usual jeans and t-shirt combo with a tatty khaki green jacket hastily yanked on to stop the wind. I had washed my makeup off and pulled my hair back in a loose ponytail. All in all I was very comfy and ready for the long drive ahead. 

“You all set?” Dean asked me rummaging through his cassette tape collection. He was still wearing the same black t-shirt and baggy jeans but had removed his hand-me-down leather jacket, chucking it in the back seat.

“I will be if I get to choose what we listen to at least for the first 3 hours.” My brother looked up at me and raised his eyebrows.

“The drive only lasts 3 and a half hours.” 

“Exactly.” I laughed, snagging the cassette tapes and looking through them. I found my favourite album right away and stuck it in the tape deck, ignoring Deans irritated mutterings. Foreigner’s Hot Blooded hummed quietly until I cranked it up a few notches.

Dean looked at me with a disbelieving expression. “Foreigner? Again? This album’s all you ever listen to!”

“All I ever listen to when I’m with you!” 

“You’re always with me!” Dean laughed, but turned the song up even louder anyway.

“You only ever listen to the same five albums on repeat anyway, I think I’m entitled to at least one!” I teased as we pulled out of the parking lot. 

Soon enough we were back on a dirt road leading us out onto the scenic route again. Even in the dark the trees that flew past me drew a smile from my lips. The songs chorus was imminent so I turned the volume up as loud as it would go despite my brother’s protests and belted the lines out.

“Girl I’m hot blooded, checking the scene...” I sang and danced in my seat making Dean laugh and after the next verse he even joined in with his painfully tone-deaf shouting.

 

*

 

It turns out I didn’t stay awake long enough to annoy Dean for the whole 3 hours and after the second time of singing along to Metallica’s album I drifted off to sleep, my knees pulled up to my chest.

My subconscious had taken me to an old memory. Dean was there, Dad was there and even Sammy was there watching as I took aim and fired the gun. My shoulders jerked back with the force of the recoil but I held my stance and didn’t falter. The bullet knocked the can flying off of the wall, the perfect shot.

“Dad, I did it!” I jumped with joy and punched the air triumphantly. I must have been about eight years old or so and about as boisterous as a little girl could get at that age with a messy blonde bob and dirt on my cheeks.

Reliving that memory, I grinned at my father and he hoisted me up on his shoulders proclaiming me queen of the shooting range and making Sam and Dean bow to me. The pride in his voice at that moment gave me such happiness I never wanted it to end. 

Then the dream shifted and a noise blew by on the wind that ruffled my messy hair. A voice pierced through my bubble of happiness and it burst leaving me stood alone, Dad and my brothers suddenly gone, still as my dreamed-up eight year old self. Alone as the voice whipped around me and made me shiver.

I can never go home…

 

I jerked awake, knocking Dean’s leather jacket onto my legs. Finding myself alone in the car I began to panic momentarily, searching for Dean, but soon the fog of sleep lifted I realised we were at a gas station and Dean was just inside paying. At some point he must have draped his jacket over me while I slept. The car clock read quarter past one in the morning. I sighed and ran my fingers through the bangs that had fallen out of my ponytail trying to calm myself. It wasn’t even as if the dream had been horrifically terrifying, it was actually one of my more pleasant dreams up until the whole ‘never go home’ deal.

I uncurled my legs and stretched them out onto the dashboard earning a glare from my brother as he left the shop. I smiled seeing in his hand a couple of protein bars and in the other a paper bag I could only guess held coffee. Yum.

It was still dark outside and when Dean opened the car door a blast of cold air made me shiver.

“You okay?” He asked eyeing me curiously. Sometimes I swear that dude is psychic. When Sammy first left, I used to have the worst nightmares, mainly featuring Sam, an unknown monster and his death. Sam’s death, not the monsters. Dean had always been there to quiet me down when I bolted up shaking. I shuddered and pulled my jumper back onto my shoulders.

“Ems?” Dean put his hand on my knee and met my gaze with knowing eyes. I immediately felt better, my big brothers smile wasn’t something words could do justice. I cherished that smile, it meant everything was okay.

“I’m good.” I said handing him back his leather jacket. He swapped me for a protein bar and a coffee before yanking it back on, rubbing his hands together against the chill. He revved up the car and pulled away from the pumps.

“You still up for this?” He asked a few moments later whilst I was tucking into my delicious high-in-fibre snack. His question wasn’t unexpected, like I said, he always knew if my head wasn't in the right place.

I looked over at him, seeing the concern in his eyes, and offered a lopsided smile around a mouthful of protein bar. 

“Sure am,” I turned to face out the windscreen. “Let’s go get our brother.”

 

*

 

We made it to Sammy’s apartment in good time, arriving just before two in the morning. His dorm was small and simple in a block of loads of other small and simples. I stepped out of the car swinging the door close behind me. I folded my arms tightly against my chest in an attempt to stay warm, hearing the drivers door slam close.

“So Dean, what’s the plan?” I asked, turning around to see Dean stood - not there.

“Dean?” I squinted into the darkness trying to spot my brother. A movement in the shadows made me whirl round to see Dean swinging up onto the fire escape to what I could only presume was Sammy’s apartment. Dean had made sure to get Sam's exact address some time ago, he still hadn't told me how. 

“So much for subtlety.” I rolled my eyes and headed after my brother, making sure no one was watching us.

 

Climbing in through the window Dean had obviously left open, I surveyed the room looking for him. I was hyper aware that stood against the light as I was I could easily be seen.Then I wondered why I cared, Sam was my brother, what was he gonna do? Attack me?

I was about to call to Dean when I heard a creak in the hallway and flattened myself against the nearest wall, fingers itching for the familiar weight of my knife. Again, I’m not sure why I was so keyed up, it must have been the anticipation that coursed through me at the thought of seeing Sam. Or I was just paranoid. 

I vaguely saw Dean heading for the fridge and went to try and get his attention when a silhouetted figure lunged for him. Before he could land a hit on Dean I sped into action, instinct taking me through the easy blocks and jabs as the familiarity of my opponents style washed over me. I laughed at how rusty Sam’s moves were, quickly ducking his hook and sweeping his feet out, slamming him onto his back.

“Is that anyway to greet your favourite sister?” I said smirking smugly down at Sammy. His expression went from fight mode to a look of confusion with more than a hint of irritation. A hand slapped my shoulder in obvious pride and I heard Dean’s low chuckle as he too smirked down at our brother.

“Emily? Dean?” Sam exclaimed, breathing heavily. I only laughed, not loosening my hold on him. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“That’s because you’re out of practice.” Dean joked. I grinned, recognising the look of competition in Sam’s wide eyes, then suddenly he had hooked a leg around me and lobbed me onto my back, putting me in almost the exact same lock. His eyes glinted in the lowlight and I took a moment to stare into them, trying to gauge his reaction to me and Dean being here.

“Or not,” I huffed. “Get off me.” He rose to his feet quickly and hauled me up with him.

“What the hell are you two doing here?” Sam demanded as Dean came to stand beside me in front of him.

“Well I was looking for a beer.” Dean replied lightly, clapping Sam on the shoulders. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” He repeated, saying each word slowly.

“Sam, we gotta talk.” I told him, brushing myself off.

“Uh, the phone?”

“If we’d called, would you have picked up?” Dean countered.

I was about to add my opinion when the light flicked on and a voice called for Sam. We all turned to see a girl in her pyjamas stood in the door way rubbing at tired eyes. My eyes immediately narrowed as I appraised her. She had long golden curls and a curvaceous figure. I looked to Dean for an answer but he looked as blank as me. Had Sam gotten a girlfriend?

“Jess,” Sam’s tone softened and my eyes narrowed further knowing I had guessed right. “Hey.” 

My fist clenched as I glared at this girl, knowing she couldn’t see my expression from this angle. Dean did though; he saw my hostile reaction and made a face at me that meant ‘calm it’. I reluctantly obeyed and converted my face to the neutral setting.

“Dean, Emily, this is my girlfriend Jessica.” Sam gestured to Dean and me in turn. 

“Wait, as in your brother Dean?” Jessica asked, all signs of sleep vanishing from her face. I stifled the urge to clear my throat and instead folded my arms across my chest. Dean wasn’t having as negative a reaction as I was apparently as he looked Jessica over before smirking.

“I love the Smurfs.” He pointed to her cropped t-shirt. Well, we all knew where his focus was then. He moved towards her, that playful smile tugging at his lips. “You know I gotta tell you, you’re way out of my brother’s league.” Oh jeez, really Dean, Sammy’s girlfriend?

“Just let me put something on.” Jess suggested whilst giving Sam a pointed look.

“No, no, wouldn’t dream of it. Seriously.” Dean replied casually still giving her his lady-killer smile. After a second more of Dean giving Sam’s girlfriend another once over. I rolled my eyes and piped up.

“Excuse my Neanderthal of a brother but we've gotta borrow your boyfriend, talk about some private family business.”

“No.” Sam said simply. My eyes widened slightly in surprise. No? “No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her.” He moved next to Jess and put his arm around her, stressing his point.

“Sam-“ I began, but was cut off by Dean.

“Okay,” He gave me another ‘calm it’ look before continuing. “Um, dad hasn’t been home in a few days.”

“So he’s working over- time on a Miller-time shift. He’ll stumble back sooner or later.” Sam responded, staying cool. Obviously we had to adapt our choice of words around oblivious people like Jessica but we'd been speaking in code long enough that Sam knew exactly what we meant. The calm way he replied got my hackles up. I stepped up next to Dean.

“Dad’s on a hunting trip.” I gave him a sharp look. “And he hasn’t been home in a few days.”

It took a moment for my words to sink in and I saw realisation colour his features.

“Jess, excuse us, we have to go outside.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oOooOoooh yeah so we're not into the case yet but bare with me it will be up soon i promise, hello to the people who have read the first couple of chapters! i hope you come back!  
> this fic is unbeta'd but i should be getting some helpers once i've finished editing/uploading the woman in white hunt.  
> thank you and goodnight


	4. Same old, same old

I walked behind Sam and Dean as we trudged down the fire escape stairs.

“I mean come on,” Sam began and my back tightened, here we go again. “You can’t just break in, middle of the night and expect me to hit the road with you.” Then what else are family for?

“You’re not hearing me Sammy.” Dean replied in a tone that said this conversation was about to take an all too familiar turn. “Dad’s missing. I need you to help me find him.” 

I cleared my throat loudly.

“We need your help Sammy.” He corrected himself hurriedly. But Sam was adamant.

“You remember the poltergeist in Amherst?” Yep this was definitely sounding familiar.

“Or lemme guess, the Devil’s gate in Clifton?” I offered earning a glare from Sam over his shoulder. I merely shrugged at him.

“He was missing then too.” He continued, facing back towards Dean. “He’s always missing and he’s always fine.”

Dean rounded on Sam as we reached the bottom of the staircase. “Not for this long. Now you gonna come with us or not?” Surprisingly Dean was staying neutral.

“I’m not.”

“Why not?” I demanded, temper flaring. 

“I swore I was done hunting, for good.” Sam met both our eyes, trying to get his point across.

“Come on, it wasn’t easy but it wasn’t that bad.” Dean said, turning his back on Sam again and heading for the door that led to the car-park.

“Oh yeah? When I told dad I was afraid of the thing in my closet he gave me a .45.” Sam challenged.

“What was he supposed to do?” Dean stopped in front of the exit.

“I was 9 years old!” Sam replied with a disbelieving note in his voice. “He was supposed to say ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark.’”

“Don’t be afraid of the dark? Are you kidding man, of course you should be afraid of the dark, you know what’s out there!” I snapped, striding over to Dean’s side. 

“Yeah I know, still the way we grew up after Mom was killed,” I could see Deans jaw clench at those words. Mom was kind of a taboo subject and even though I had never really known my mother, I was raised in a family where her death was a touchy topic and simply not discussed. “And Dad’s obsession to find the thing that killed her.” Dean’s eyes narrowed. I felt my stomach lurch at where this talk had headed. 

“Back off Sammy.” I warned him quietly, but he ignored me.

“But we still haven’t found the damn thing.” A brief pause. “So we kill everything we can find.”

“Save a lot of people doing it too.” Dean answered with a hard edge in his tone. They stared each other down for a long few seconds before Sam piped up again.

“You think Mom would have wanted this for us?” Sam challenged. Dean ignored him and slammed open the door to the street obviously trying to keep his temper in check. I quickly followed him, sending Sam a look that clearly said ‘shut the hell up’. But even then Sam was unrelenting in his attack. “The weapons training and melting the silver into bullets? Man, we were raised like warriors.”

I tuned the rest out, walking stiffly by Dean’s side. I had heard this argument in one form or another a hundred times before Sam had left us for Stanford. He had always been fighting against our upbringing in one way or another. But still, didn’t Sam have any loyalties to his family anymore? I couldn’t think of anything, for me, that would come before protecting my brothers and father and I had simply assumed they all felt the same. 

We reached the Impala and I tuned back into Sam and Dean arguing.

“It was Dad who said if I was gonna go I should stay gone.” I heard Sam point out. 

They were back full circle to Sam leaving in the first place. That fight had been the biggest argument Sam and Dad had ever had and the thought of it made me shiver. They had come so close to blows before Dean and I had stepped in but Sam was right, Dad had said Sam should stay gone once he left. And on that point I believe he had been wrong.

There was more arguing and I seriously considered just banging their heads together and being done with it all. Instead I cleared my throat and caught both their attention.

“Sammy please, we need you on this one.” I said simply. I fixed him with my best doe-eyed little sister look as I shifted with my hands in my pockets. We locked gazes for a moment until he broke away, rubbing his jaw.

Sam sighed in surrender. “What was he hunting?”

 

*

 

I nibbled on one of the few remaining protein bars in the front of the Impala whilst Dean ran through the situation and then Dad’s message. I was sat with my legs hanging out of the open door so I could listen to their conversation. I tensed when I heard Dean replaying the message, Dad’s voice so urgent under all the interference.

“You know there’s EVP on that?” Sam said after the message had clicked off. I smiled in pride. Kinda like-

“Kinda like riding a bike isn’t it?” Naturally Dean took the words right out of my mouth. My brothers listened to edited recording and talked about that quietly for a moment or two before I heard Sam pace about a bit.

“All right, I’ll go.” At those words a weight I didn’t know was on my chest lifted. Finally we were together again and now we could focus on tracking down Dad, wherever the hell he is. I smiled around my last bit of protein bar, it really had been too long since Sam, Dean and I had spent time together.

I pulled the Impala door shut and let out my ponytail, combing my now kinked hair back with my fingers, leaving it down and letting out a relieved sigh. The car rocked slightly as the boot was slammed shut with more force than necessary. The front door was yanked open and an irritated looking Dean slammed it shut behind him after apologising to the Impala.

“Dean?” 

He looked up at me and rubbed a hand over his mouth.

“Sam can only stay with us until Monday.” 

“Why?” I asked, brow furrowing. Finding Dad wasn’t an overnight thing and in the best possible case it could take us at least a week to find the man. 

“He has an interview. That’s why.” Dean explained.

“Skip it.”

“That’s what I said! But Sammy he’s…” Dean sighed and stroked the steering wheel. “He says it’s his whole life on a platter, I can’t make him skip that Ems.” 

I deliberated that. If I were in Dean’s position I wouldn’t have done any different I suppose. But still, it’s damn annoying. If getting a spot in some pretentious school was more important than potentially saving his father’s life, Sam and I would be having words.

A tap on my window made me jump and I saw Sam peering in, laughing at my fright. I glared daggers at him. For a guy so lanky he sure could sneak around. He had a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and I told Dean to pop the boot again.

I stepped out of the car and planted myself in front of Sam once he had put his bag in the trunk. He appraised me curiously. 

Just seeing him there made me feel like everything was back to normal. Like I was a little girl again and I knew with such childish certainty that both my brothers being with me made me one hundred percent safe in a world full of monsters. 

I looked up at Sam, hating that I felt hope flutter in my chest. He smiled reassuringly down at me. Even though he was only about a year older than me Sam was taller than me and even Dean.

“Don’t worry Ems, we’ll find him.” He reassured me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. Without much thought I threw my arms around him like I used to when I was young and hugged him tight. 

“I missed you.” I said is a rushed mumble, before letting go and smirking up at him. “Now get in the back.”

 

*

 

“So this is where Constance took the swan dive huh?” Dean said in his ever-sensitive manner as all three of us peered over the edge into the murky water rushing below. 

“Seems like.” I offered cheerfully. 

Whilst looking for Dad in Jericho we had come across a crime scene where the poor guy’s chest had been ripped open by what we now think was the vengeful spirit of Constance Welch. So we had found ourselves a pissed off ghost but no Dad. 

“So do you think Dad would have been here?” Sam asked on a similar train of thought to me. After finding what he’d been hunting, actually finding him had seemed tantalizingly close and I could tell Sam, and Dean for that matter, were growing impatient.

“He was hunting Welch and we’re hunting him.” I answered vaguely watching Dean in my peripheral vision for any sign of tension but he only moved away from the railing of the bridge and began walking to the other side as if he hadn’t heard mine and Sam’s exchange.

“Okay so now what?” Sam’s question was obviously directed at Dean now. I followed my big brothers to the opposite side of the bridge, keeping an eye on both of their expressions. As a result of being raised in close quarters with my brothers and my father, more often than not playing mediator between the three over the years, I was pretty adept at gauging their emotions. Dean was staying calm but Sam had a tinge of irritation in the way he held his jaw.

“Now we keep digging ‘til we find him, might take a while.” Dean was frowning as if this was obvious, which it was. 

“Dean, I’ve told you. I’ve gotta get back by-“

“Monday, right.” Dean interrupted, the words were snarkier than usual. “The interview. I forgot.” He turned to look at Sam giving him a funny look. “You’re really serious about this aren’t you?”

And here we go again, I thought to myself, squinting against the drizzle that had started. Trying to distract myself from the argument that was obviously about to pick up again, I attempted to stop the rain with the sheer force of my hostility. I wasn’t wearing the right jacket for rain, damn it.

“You think you’re just gonna become some lawyer? Marry your girl?” There was definite annoyance in Dean’s tone and again I kept note of their expressions and body language watching for anger, hurt or signs of an impending ass-kicking. Same old, same old.

“Yeah why not?” Sam said petulantly. 

“Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean does she know about the things you’ve done?” Dean probed in a knowing tone.

“No and she’s not ever going to know.” Sam began closing the gap between him and Dean, fingers twitching at his sides. I took a step closer just in case.

“Well that’s healthy.” I drawled sarcastically, trying to distract Sam from Dean but they both ignored me.

“You can pretend all you want Sammy, but sooner or later you’re gonna have to face up to who you really are.” Dean turned and began walking back towards the Impala. I thought the debate was over and went to follow him when Sam marched up alongside him.

“Yeah and who’s that?”

“One of us.” Dean spread his arms without turning around.

“No,” Sam halted in front of Dean, forcing him to stop. “I’m not like you! This is not going to be my life!” I glanced up sharply, eyes narrowing in anger.

Frankly, I was getting tired of being ignored and Sam’s last remark had hit a nerve. ’One of you’ like we were a different species. I purposely planted myself in between the two, pushing them both away from each other, and turned to glare at Sam.

“You have a responsibility Sam.” I snapped. 

“What, to Dad?” He bit back.

“Yes! Don’t you get it?” I snarled, squaring up to him. “Dad has protected us our whole lives! Taught us how to protect ourselves as well as others against what’s really out there!” I gestured wildly around me before composing myself. “ In the real world, Sam. Not in your white picket fence fairy-tale.” I fumed, my chest tight in barely restrained anger.

“You’re wrong Emily.” Sam said almost patronizingly. My hackles rose at his tone. “The only thing Dad has done is dragged us into his crusade to find the thing that killed Mom.” 

My biting retort died on my tongue. 

“You know, if it weren’t for pictures, we wouldn’t even know what Mom looked like!” He finished harshly.

I recoiled as if he’d slapped me and it hurt worse than if he had, tears springing to my eyes. 

It was true I had no real memories of my mother but he knew that lack of connection killed me and to bring it up like that made me want to kill something in return. I felt Dean’s hand gripping my upper-arm and realised I was tensing for a fight.

“Sam-” Dean growled lowly in warning.

“And even if we do find the thing that killed her,” I stood frozen as Sam continued his rant. “Mom’s gone and she isn’t coming back.” 

Dean pushed past me and shoved Sammy against one of the bridge-supporting pillars. I vaguely recalled that in a situation like this I was meant to intervene or do something to stop Dean, but I couldn’t bring myself to even look at Sam at that moment, let alone defend him. 

“Don’t talk about her like that.” Dean sounded as hurt and angry as I felt. 

I looked away to wipe my eyes roughly when I saw her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mate, sibling conflict is like crack to me... in that i rarely do it and it makes me feel bad  
> i say i rarely do it, but by its very nature this fic is going to have a buttload of sibling conflict/lies/fights but also i hope lovely emosh bonding/understanding/protectiveness and unity  
> emily's presence isn't much going to affect this first hunt since its just establishing what she's like and how she interacts with her goofy brothers but she will start to make a difference to the plot at some point dw  
> i hope you enjoy this chap, thank you and goodnight


	5. Aframian's buying

A woman with dark hair in a white dress, stood on the railings of the bridge staring at us as her figure swayed in the wind. It had to be Constance. 

“Guys.” I called drawing their attention. Before any of us could think of what to do the woman in white fell forward and off the bridge.

I ran for the edge and searched for her but all I could see was the white froth of the small river. Sam and Dean ran up beside me. “Where’d she go?”

I leant forward, squinting into the darkness.

“I don’t know, I didn’t see.” I replied, frustrated. We all turned towards the abrupt growl of the Impala’s engine shielding our eyes from the headlights.

“Uuh… Dean?” 

“Who’s driving your car?” Sam asked, bewildered. I cocked an eyebrow as Dean pulled his keys out his pocket for us to see. Well, that’s definitely not good.

The tires screeched as the car lurched forward. We just watched, perplexed until the Impala picked up speed and we realised it was heading straight for us. 

Dean grabbed my arm and flung me into running as we all sprinted away from the possessed vehicle. Adrenaline, helpful and familiar kept me sprinting full out along the road. My calves burned and my heart pounded. We couldn’t outrun the Impala for long and the car was soon right on our tails.

Knowing my brothers would follow, I acted on instinct and veered for the rails of the bridge and vaulted over them. Landing hard at an awkward angle on the metal beams, my foot twisted out from under me and I cursed, pitching forward. Grabbing onto the metal as I fell, I clung onto the edge of the structure ducking as Dean flew over my head into the river. 

“Dean!” I yelled after him but he was already swimming over to the muddy bank.

“Emily!” I looked up to see Sam perched on the edge of the structure I was hanging onto. I desperately tried not to look down, my stomach churning uncomfortably. I never had   
been good with heights.

“A little help would be great.” Embarrassingly, my strained voice broke. I heard him let out a relieved chuckle as he stretched out his hand for me. I clasped tightly onto his wrist and he grabbed mine.

“You ready?” He asked and I nodded briskly. “One, two, three!”

He heaved me up and I climbed up to sit in between his legs, shaky from the height. He had an arm draped over my shoulders holding onto me to help me balance. Sam’s wrist was still in my vice like grip as I centred myself. We watched as Dean pulled himself up onto the muddy embankment as I calmed down. 

As the adrenaline wore off, the sting of the wounds Sam’s words inflicted came back and I swiftly disentangled myself from him and climbed back over the railings leaving my brother behind me.

“Ems.” He called after me but I paced towards the now dormant Impala. I wasn’t in the mood for listening to his excuses right now. “Emily!” He caught my hand and swung me round. He peered down at me before letting me go.

“I’m sorry about what I said. I went too far.”

“You’re damn right.” I agreed angrily.

“But you know I never meant it Ems.” He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it softly. I made an effort not to just shrug it off. 

“I really am sorry.” Sam continued. I sighed and even though the anger still simmered, I knew he was truly apologetic. I’m sure my remark about his life and girlfriend had hurt him too. And even though I couldn’t understand why he disliked his own father so much I knew I would forgive him. I always did. It was damn difficult to hold a resolve against those puppy-eyes.

I rubbed the back of my neck absently. “I’m sorry for what I said too.” I mumbled. I made for the Impala, throwing a smirk over my shoulder. “You better go help Dean up the bank.” 

He laughed, relieved that I had forgiven him. “Oh man, he’s gonna reek.” 

 

*

 

We regrouped up on the bridge and after determining Constance hadn’t messed with Dean’s baby too badly, just taken it for a ghost joy-ride before disappearing, and that Dean   
did definitely smell like a toilet, we headed to the local motel to clean up.

“One room please.” I asked, passing the man behind the counter one of my many fake cards. Sam and Dean stood behind me discussing something or other about the case and the man glanced from them to me sceptically. 

“They’re my brothers.” I said giving him a hard look. It wasn’t rare for people to assume I was with Sam or Dean, since I looked a lot more like our mother than either of them and people seem to enjoy jumping to conclusions but it’s not half as funny as when Sam and Dean get mistaken for a couple.

“No it’s not that miss, you guys having a reunion or somethin’?” I quirked an eyebrow at him. 

“What do you mean?” I prodded, trying to quell the hope that fluttered through me. Sam and Dean’s conversation seemed to be evolving into a quarrel as per usual but I ignored them and focused on the receptionist. 

“An older guy by the same name was here, Burt Aframian,” He said matter-of-factly. “he came in an’ bought out a room for the whole month.”

“That’d be dad, always fashionably early.” I gave him my brightest smile and faked an exasperated sigh. “He’d tell you we’re just uselessly late. What was his room number?” I tilted my head slightly keeping the smile, it couldn’t hurt to be friendly. It worked and the man mumbled something before rustling through some papers on his counter.

“Here it is miss, yours is number 6, your old man’s is number 10.” I thanked him and left with our room key, not bothering to check if Sam and Dean were following me.

“Room number 10, room number 10,” I murmured to myself scouting down the porches. 8, 9…

10\. 

I paused and just looked at the door. What were the chances dad was still in there? Close to zilch. Did that stop me from hoping? No.

Digging in my bag I found my lock pick and set to work.

At some point while I was concentrating my brothers turned up to keep guard and watch out for anyone likely to interrupt my sneaky bit of B&E. Eventually the lock clicked back and I hurried inside before anyone could see. Sam followed and had to yank in a distracted Dean who was still caked in dried mud. 

As expected, dad wasn’t here. However he had left his own… unique signature.

Sam quickly shut the door behind him and Dean. All three of us just stared around, mouths hanging open.

“Whoa…” Sam said finally.

“Understatement.” I muttered. The motel room walls were covered with research and newspaper clippings and any space left after that was filled with protective symbols and artefacts. My heart gave an uneasy leap as I spotted the ring of salt around the desk and bed.

“I don’t think he’s been here a couple days at least.” Dean said after sniffing a half-eaten burger on the bedside table. Sam and I shared a look as I nudged the ring of salt with my boots.

“Salt. Cat’s-eye shells.” Sam continued to stare around the room, his brow furrowed in concern. 

“He was worried.” I studied the cat’s-eye shells Sam had pointed out. “Trying to keep something out.”

After quick inspection, I found that Dad hadn’t left any of his clothes or more importantly his weapons, so he wasn’t unarmed at least. Had Constance been after Dad? Or was it something else? The bigger problem Dad had mentioned on the voice recording maybe? I rubbed my arms anxiously and tried to make some sense of what Dad had plastered over his walls.

 

*

 

A while later Dean had cleaned up and smelt less like a toilet and was heading out for some grub. Whilst Sam listened to a voicemail, no doubt another one from Jess, I leafed through Dad’s notes on Constance Welch. We had dropped our bags at our room just a few doors down and had returned to Dad’s to go over his research. The papers said Constance Welch had killed herself after finding her kids dead in the bathtub. However, Dad’s research gave us reason to believe she was actually a Woman in White, so in reality had murdered her children, and gave us a connection between her victims- they were all unfaithful dicks.

We figured Dad’s next move would have been to salt and burn her bones or at least to find where Constance was buried by talking to her husband, Joseph Welch, a task Sam and I would rock, paper, scissors for later.

“You two want anything?” Dean asked, tugging on his leather jacket.

“No thanks.” I mumbled scanning the articles for any burial locations, just in case, whilst absentmindedly polishing my favourite sentry knife.

“No.” Sam said shortly still holding his phone to his ear.

“Aframian’s buying.” 

Sam just shook his head as I chuckled to myself. Dean merely shrugged and left.

Apparently the papers had kept her burial site hushed up which meant one of us would definitely have to go talk to her widowed husband. The same husband that had cheated on her, driven her to killing her children, committing suicide and ultimately murdering several more men. Sam may just have to take this one; I don’t think I’d be able to stay civil with this moron.

I saw Sam jump out the corner of my eye as his phone vibrated against his ear. He huffed and answered it as I watched curiously.

“What?” Sam demanded. It was Dean then. He abruptly stood up. “What about you?” 

I swore under my breath and headed for the curtains, slipping my knife back into its holster in my jacket. Peeping through the gap I spotted Dean next to the Impala and two police officers bearing down on him. Sam flipped his phone shut and stood behind me, peering over my head.

Dean and the officers exchanged words before the shorter officer headed our way and Dean was shoved over the Impala and handcuffed. 

“Crap.” Sam exclaimed quietly above me, dropping the curtain and pushing me in front of him as we headed for the bathroom. I eyed the small window above the shower sceptically. Sam was already shoving me up towards the windowsill with muffled orders of ‘move it!’ as he boosted me up. 

It was an uncomfortable fit and I scraped more than I’d have liked to scrape. Once I had yanked myself through and landed awkwardly in some bushes I made to help Sam but he was out and pushing me onwards.

“Where do we go?” I looked to Sam as we jogged away from the motel emerging next to a small convenience store.

“I need to make a phone call.” He replied briskly, noticing a phone booth near the back of the shop. 

“Don’t phone the station straight away,” I advised. “It’ll seem shifty.” Sam hesitated, then nodded and threw me the keys to our motel room. 

“I take it you have a spare key to the Impala somewhere?” He asked looking pointedly back at the motel. I nodded. “They should have carted Dean off by now.” He added. “Check Dad’s motel room and get the Impala, I’ll wait for you outside the store.”

After making sure the officers had left completely and no squad cars were lurking I snuck back into Dad’s motel room. It seems the police had ransacked his room in the short time Sam and I had been out of there. Most of the profiles and newspaper clippings seemed to have been seized. Damn. They had been real useful. I frowned and checked outside for any nosey neighbours or the owner of the place.

Once I deemed it all clear I walked as casually as I could back to our own room and retrieved our few bags and pocketed the spare car key.  
I picked up Sam outside the small store he was hiding out in. For some reason Sam insisted on driving. I’m pretty sure it was because he had missed the Impala more than he was letting on, so I obliged and told him about the missing research in Dad’s motel room.

“Dean’s gonna be in custody for a while until I can make that phone call.” Sam mentioned once I had filled him in. “We should go talk to Joseph Welch while we’re waiting, y’know, find out how long ago Dad was here.”

“And to find out where our Woman in White was buried so we can ice her.” I added pointedly, giving him a hard look. Sam may have looked sheepish but it could have been my imagination.

“Yeah, of course.” He cleared his throat. “You wanna take the lead on this?” He pointed down a small dirt road which led to what looked like a trailer park without the trailers. Random bits of junk metal surrounded a small house, oh wait no it was a trailer. I assumed this was where Joseph Welch lived.

“Go for it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaw yeah son new chapter *throws confetti*  
> all hits/kudos this has gotten and massively appreciated no srsly they make me cry happy tears  
> chapters are gonna keep on coming i hope you readers will come back too  
> thank you and goodnight


	6. Face your demons

By the time we had finished with Welch the day had started darkening as the sun sank in the sky. After a brief questioning, under the pretence that we were journalists fact checking for our older partner, Joseph had given us all the information we needed. We now knew that Constance was a definite Woman in White and where she was buried. 

“I’ll say it again, no matter how sorry he feels now, Mr Welch is a douche.” I reiterated angrily for the third time since we had left. I would never be able to sympathise with anyone who had been unfaithful to their family and in Mr Welch’s case, his infidelity had cost him his wife and his children’s lives. The only justice was that he would have to live with that guilt for the rest of his.

I flexed my fingers against the steering wheel as Sam’s phone vibrated in his lap. That would be Dean. I watched Sam’s face for any sign that our brother was in trouble. Thankfully, it sounded like he had gotten away fine. 

Sam got Dean caught up on the Woman in White case. There was a pause as Dean spoke though I could only hear a tinny mumble over the car engine.

“Put him on speaker.” Sam nodded, and Dean’s voice became clearer.

“… what I’m trying to tell you. He’s gone. Dad left Jericho.” 

“What?” I unintentionally pressed a little harder on the accelerator and quickly looked back to the road, trying to keep my cool. “Do you know for sure?” 

“100% Ems, I’ve got his journal.” I swore under my breath and shared a look with Sam.

“He doesn’t go anywhere without that thing.” Sam said sceptically, as if he didn’t believe Dad would actually leave it.

“Well he did this time.”

“Anything for us?” I asked hopefully.

“Same old ex-marine crap he always pulls when he wants to let us know where he’s going.”

“Coordinates.” Sam looked irritated. “Where to?”

“I dunno yet.” Dean’s irritation matched Sam’s. Dad could never do things the simple way could he?

“I don’t understand,” Sam started. “What could be so important that he would skip town in the middle of a job?”

“It’s not like him,” I added. “He’s never been one to half-ass anything.” Dean hummed an agreement down the line. It was true, if there was a hunt to be done, Dad would see it through to the bloody end. 

“Dean, what the hell is going on?” Before Dean could answer, I let out a yelp and slammed on the brakes, throwing an arm over Sam, the impala hurtling towards a pale figure stood stock still in the middle of the road. 

I drew in shaky breaths as I checked out the windshield and saw no one there. The car had skidded to a halt and I tried to compose myself as I checked over at Sam, who looked as freaked as me. I dropped my arm from across his chest and gave him a quick once over.

“Sam! Emily!” Dean’s voice still echoed around the car. I was about to ask Sam if he was alright when he went rigid in his seat, eyes fixed on the rear view mirror. I followed his stare to see a flickering Constance Welch glaring at Sam from the backseat.

Do not panic, I thought to myself, she is still only a Woman in White, she wouldn’t attack us unless we were unfaithful. Suddenly all my drunken indiscretions and one night stands were racing through my mind and I swallowed thickly in anxiety, she couldn’t possibly know about all that right? Did they even count?

“Take me home.” She commanded in an ethereal voice. I slowly moved my hand to the inside of my jacket, itching for my gun. Constance’s icy glare snapped from Sam to me and suddenly the door of the driver’s side was flung open. 

“Emily!” Sam yelled, as an unnameable force wrenched me from the car. I landed heavily on the grit of the road, head lurching forward, my left temple striking the cold, hard surface. Stars burst before my eyes and my senses temporarily failed me. 

I vaguely heard the impala door slam shut and the engine start up. The icy ground grazed my cheek as I fought to move. I managed to push myself up on one elbow, fighting the bout of nausea the movement caused, just in time to see the taillights of the impala speed away around a bend.

Well shit.

 

.

 

Fortunately, we had been pretty close to Constance’s house when I had been so rudely thrown from the car. Very slowly, I got to my feet, wiping gravel from my cheek. My sleeve came away with a small amount of blood. Nothing life threatening. I shook off the remaining nausea and did a weapon check. I made sure my gun was still in my jacket and started forward along the road.

I bit down hard on my lip to distract from the ringing pain in my temple and walked a little faster. Sam would be fine. Constance targeted unfaithful douchebags, Sam would never cheat, he just wasn’t the type. He would be fine. Spirits like this followed set patterns and rules.

Unless Constance was playing by her own rules now. 

I broke into a brisk jog. 

 

.

 

I made it to the house and drew my handgun. I could hear the rumble of the impala engine and once I got closer, I could see her taillights. Embedded in the front of the house. It seemed Sam had taken Constance’s orders very literally.

A crash like that, who’s to know what he could have hit on the way in. My jog became more of a sprint as I rushed into the house.

“Sam!” I called. I blew out a long breath in relief. Dean was helping our brother out of the Impala and he seemed unscathed from the impact. 

“You alright?” Dean asked, obviously noting the blood on my cheek, as he helped Sam over to where I stood. 

I made to tell him I was fine when there was a blast of icy air and an angry shriek from behind me. I swung round to face Constance, gun raised but she was taking no notice of me. She held an old photo frame in her pale hands with a pained expression on her face. Her indecision didn’t last long though and with a furious glare she threw the photo to the floor and stepped to the side.

I saw the drawers move before my brothers and barrelled into them, knocking them to the floor. The drawers slammed into my legs and I yelped, trying to shove them away from me. The same force that flung me out of the car was pinning me against it with the drawers. 

“Emily!” Dean cursed, and aimed his pistol at Constance. 

“Wait!” I barked. 

The dim lights in the room began to flicker and the spirit looked around as if she heard something. I signalled for Sam and Dean to wait, watching intently as the undeniable sound of running water filled our ears. Constance flickered and appeared at the foot of the staircase. Water flowed down the stairs, pooling around the Woman in White’s feet. 

I craned my neck to see up the stairs. Two children stood, holding each other’s hands as water seeped past them.

“You’ve come home to us Mommy.” I tensed at their voices which had the same inhuman quality that Constance’s had and I realised these children were not on my side of the veil. 

Sam and Dean had gotten to their feet now, although there was little any of us could do but watch as the children flitted down the stairs and embraced the very women that had killed them.

An inhuman screech filled the room as Constance and her children seemed to almost melt, unnatural blue light emanating from them in flashes as Constance’s children dragged her down through the floor. The screams finally stopped and all that remained of Jericho’s Woman in White was a puddle of bathwater on the ancient wooden floorboards. 

Immediately the weight of the chest of drawers on my legs lessened and with my brother’s help, I pushed them away from my legs. We gathered ourselves and stood around the puddle. Sam had a few holes in his top, they looked almost charred around the edges. Love bites from Constance I was guessing.

“So this is where she drowned her kids.” Dean noted darkly.

“Seems like.” I frowned at the puddle.

“That’s why she could never go home.” Sam added. “She was too scared to face them.” Well if I had killed my kids, accident or no accident, I’d be terrified of facing those demons too.

“You found her weak spot,” Dean said with a hint of pride in his voice. “Nice work Sammy.” He thumped Sammy on the chest over the holes. Sam gave a pained laugh.

“Wish I could say the same for you.” Sam jabbed. “What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face you freak!” I laughed, wide eyed.

“Seriously? Did that even work?” I asked incredulously. 

Dean rolled his eyes. “Well it saved his ass.” Dean frowned as he looked at me. “You’re bleeding.”

Sam stepped over to me and tilted my head with his fingers under my chin. He pushed back the bloodied hair around my bump, his brows furrowed in concern and I winced, knocking his hand away.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” I brushed off their concern then sighed dramatically. “Damn, I really though Constance and I had hit it off.” My brothers chuckled and Dean went to inspect the impala.

“She alright?” I asked as Dean poked his head through the window.

Dean huffed and turned to face Sam. “If you screwed up my car,” A pause to glare at him. “I’ll kill you.”

Sammy grinned and shook his head as Dean turned back to the car, a matching smirk on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey peeps have a new chapter  
> after this there is one more chapter to tie up the end of this episode and we all know what that means  
> brace yourself


	7. History repeats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bring on the pain

After Sam and I helped push the Impala out of the house, we were back on the road. I sat in the back, holding a damp cloth to the growing lump on my temple whilst Sammy inspected a map trying to determine Dads coordinates. I usually dealt with maps and navigation as I was quicker at it than my brothers, but the bump to my head had left me slightly befuddled so I had opted for dozing in the backseat for the time being.

“Okay here’s where Dad went.” Sam jabbed a finger onto the map, holding the flashlight between his neck and shoulder. I sat up and leant against his seat, looking onto his lap. Sam was pointing to a vast green area. Dad had gone hiking? “It’s called Black Water Ridge, Colorado.”

“How far?” I yawned and saw Dean smirk at me. I glared at him. I’d like to see how alert he was after being thrown from a car and smacked by a chest of drawers.

“About 600 miles.”

“If we shag-ass we can make it by morning.” Dean and I watched Sam closely. I knew what Dean had been trying to do. Sam looked from Dean to me and back to Dean.

“You’re not coming.” I stated bleakly. Sam looked back at me but I was staring blankly out the windshield. He sighed impatiently.

“The interview’s in like 10 hours, I gotta be there.”

Dean moved both hands to the steering wheel and glanced out the window. He nodded and pursed his lips before agreeing. “Yeah whatever, I’ll take you home.” He offered Sam a weak smile.

Sam didn’t reply, simply switched the flashlight off as we all sank into a frustrated silence. I chucked the damp cloth onto the seat next to me and leant back against the leather. Dean caught my eye in the rear-view mirror but I looked away, demoralised. Just as soon as we were back together, Sam would be leaving. Again.

Dean switched on the stereo and ACDC’s album filled the silence for the rest of the journey.

 

.

 

We finally pulled up outside of the dorm block and Sam creaked the passenger door shut behind him, leaning down to peer through the open window.

“I’m grabbing shotgun Sammy, let me out.” I said, sitting up. Sam opened my door and steadied me as I stumbled; it seemed I was still a bit out of it.

We faced each other for a moment before I slid into the passenger seat, opting not to hug him goodbye. Sam leaned down again as I studiously ignored him.

“You’ll call me if you find him?” He asked. I chuffed in irritation as Dean nodded. “Maybe I can meet up with you guys later, huh?” I turned to watch his expression. Had he meant it? Or was it just an empty offer to make this easier? Thankfully, I didn’t have to answer.

“Yeah alright.” Dean smiled. Seeing this as a cue to go, Sam thumped the door and turned to walk away. My breath caught in my throat at watching him walk away from us again. Dean put an arm behind my head on the seat and leant towards the open window.

“Sam.” He called. Sammy stopped to listen. I suddenly wanted to beg him to get back in the car but anything I had to stay got stuck in my throat. Dean gave him a lopsided smile. “You know, we all made a hell of a team back there.”

There was a small smile tugging at Sam’s lips as he looked at the ground before answering.

“Yeah.” was his only response.  It must have been good enough for Dean as he put the Impala in gear and pulled away. A panic fluttered in me that I hadn’t gotten my chance to look at Sam or say goodbye or anything. I watched out the window and met Sam’s gaze trying to communicate through a look the words I really couldn’t say. _I miss you, please stay, we need you, don’t leave me again._

Finally we were around a corner and Sam was gone from my sight. Dean’s arm had returned on the back of my seat though and he ruffled my hair just the way I hate. I let it slide this time and tried to take some strength from my brother. If my foundations were sand, Dean was my bedrock. 

“You okay Ems?” he asked gruffly, a hint of emotion in his own tired voice.

“Yeah I guess. Man, I just worry. A lot.” I tugged my legs up to my chest and perched my chin on my knees.

“I get it, I do too.” Dean braked and pulled an unexpected u-turn. “ Which is why we are keeping watch for a while.” Dean winked at me as we drove back to Sam’s dorm.

 

.

 

A few minutes later, we were parked in a fairly inconspicuous spot where we could see Sam’s window. Nothing was out of the ordnary, yet I still felt panicky and unsatisfied at the goodbyes we had exchanged. It just didn’t feel right. My stomach twisted uncomfortably. I needed to see Sam. Say goodbye properly.

I said as much to Dean and he suggested we both go up one last time. By the front entrance mind you.

We made our way up a few flights of stairs and finally rounded the corner onto Sam’s hall.

My stomach clenched painfully again. There was a faint glow coming from under Sam’s door and a ominous crackling sound. I paused and reached out for Dean’s arm. He stopped and watched my face carefully. He must have seen the sudden fear in my eyes.

“Something’s wrong.” He stated and we both sped up.

Just as we were outside his door, Sam’s voice rang out, his cry terrified and agonised. Dean swiftly kicked the door down, barrelling in, as I followed right behind him. A wall of heat knocked the breath from my chest and stung my eyes that were wide in fear as I tried to spot Sam in the inferno.

Fire engulfed the walls and ceiling and was quickly spreading towards the double bed Sam was lying on. I could see that he was screaming for someone but couldn’t hear who above the roar of the flames. The fire was most intense at a point in the ceiling above Sam. I saw a shock of red as I realised what I was looking at.

Jess. Her stomach cut open. Her eyes frozen open. Pinned to the ceiling. Burning.

It couldn’t be… it was just like Dad had told us… _just likeMom…_

My heart was in my throat and blood was rushing in my ears as Dean and I both lunged for Sammy. The heat was unbearable as we heaved him off of the bed. The fire roared around us as if it was a living entity, a beast going in for the killing strike.

“We gotta get out of here!” Dean pleaded with our brother,voice desperate. Sam couldn’t hear him. He was still crying out for Jess and I felt my heart break for him. Sam didn’t even see us. He was fixed on Jess, eyes wide with pain, voice hoarse with tears.

“Please Sam! We gotta go!” My shout was dangerously close to a sob. There was nothing we could do for Jess now. She was gone.

It took the combined efforts of Dean and I to restrain Sam and forcibly drag him from the burning room. I had to pin his arms to his sides to stop him from swinging at us. I wouldn’t blame him, he was beyond reason right now.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Dean as we gripped our brother. We both knew the significance of what we had just witnessed and what it could mean.

We wrestled him away from his apartment. Eventually, we didn’t have to fight him. Sam slumped heavily onto Dean, chest heaving with sobs and face buried in Dean's shoulder, muffling his continuous cries for Jess.

Dean faced me, one arm secure around a shaking Sam, his face blank but his eyes swimming with emotion.

“Emily, you knock on these doors, get as many people out as you can.” He ordered in a shaky voice.

I didn’t need to be told twice.

“Yes sir.” I left him with our defeated brother and headed back into the heat and smoke.

 

.

 

 

Police cars and fire engines made an effective barricade between worried onlookers and the smoking building. No one could say for sure what caused the fire; the origin the officials thought most likely was a student leaving an appliance on or dropping a lit cigarette. No one would ever consider any supernatural cause here.

But we knew better.

The three of us stood at the trunk of the Impala, illuminated only by the red and blue of the police cruisers and the dim lights in the boot. Dean and I watched as Sam loaded up a shotgun, silent tears carving paths down his cheeks.

I felt sick to my stomach but I couldn’t cry. Not in front of Sam. I didn’t deserve to lose control of my emotions when I hadn’t lost anything and he had lost everything.

He looked up at us both, not bothering to wipe at the tears that kept falling. His eyes were dark with grief and turbulent rage. With a jolt I realised they were just how Dad’s looked when we were younger.

Sam gave a stiff nod and dropped the shotgun back in the boot.

“We got work to do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god it actually physically hurt to write this ugh  
> so now we move on from establishing Emily to how she affects the plot of this awful agonising show we all hold so dear


	8. Home alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Emily is about 9 in this flashback)

I was rarely left alone in a motel room. Tonight just happened to be one of those rare occasions when the world conspired against my family, forcing my father to work the night on finishing a hunt after asking Dean to go grab dinner for him, Sam and me. Sam, Dean and I had been cooped up in this motel room for near enough two days straight and understandably we were getting antsy.

Once Dad had left us in the charge of my 14 year old brother Dean, we had all argued about who got to leave and fetch dinner with Dean. Fresh air was becoming a privilege.

"I'm in charge Sammy," Dean said sternly, never raising his voice to me or Sam but it had the same effect. "You gotta stay here with Em."

"I don't need a babysitter!" I huffed, folding my arms and scowling at my brother.

"See!" Sam argued. "She's fine! We'll be gone what? Half an hour tops?"

 

.

 

That half an hour had actually turned out to be closer to an hour and a half.

After moaning and moaning that I could look after myself and I would lock and bolt the doors and that I would keep the blinds shut and I would keep the shotgun next to me etc… Sam and Dean finally left to go get dinner. They promised pizza and pie and I hoped they'd do good on their word.

As promised, I made sure everything was closed and locked before taking up my position in front of the TV, the emergency shotgun propped against the side of the armchair. I was feeling pretty good about myself, my feet tucked under me for warmth and a smug smirk on my face. It wasn't often that I got my own way in this family, so even a small win was victory enough for me.

I was partially asleep, watching some awful sitcom I'm sure Sam and Dean would have disapproved of me seeing, which of course made it that much better, when I heard the first noise. A muffled thud from somewhere close by.

I blinked blearily, assuming it was my brothers knocking at the door with dinner. I made to get up when the noise came again, this time with a hushed curse. That wasn't the door.

I felt the first drop of adrenaline hit my blood stream, knocking the sleep from my system. I tried to remember how long it had been since Sam and Dean left, the likelihood of them getting back within the next 10 seconds or the chance that Dad would suddenly come home. Not in my favour.

Moving as quietly as I could, I switched off the TV, picked up the shotgun and stood behind the armchair watching the window the noise was coming from.

Panic flooded my mind and I could feel my limbs start to tremble as the noise persisted. It sounded like someone trying to jimmy open the window. I lifted the shotgun and crouched behind the armchair in case the intruder was armed, I would see him but he wouldn't see me until I had fired off my shot.

I tried to still myself and slow my breathing. My whole body shook and it was effort to hear past my heart thumping in my ears. Though I could still hear Dads clear, gruff voice in my head taking me through the steps again.  _Incapacitate: shoulder, legs and crotch. Execution: Chest, stomach and head… breathe in through the nose, hold, brace for the kick, aim… and fire._

The noise stopped and my breathing stopped with it. For a terrifying moment, everything was still. Then a quiet creak of the window opening and a muffled curse as the intruder stepped in.

I risked a peek round the arm of the chair. A guy who looked roughly Dads age with greasy hair and tatty clothing stood, surveying the room, not looking in my direction yet. I got a waft of cigarette smoke before catching the glint of light on steel when the intruder pocketed a switch blade. Other than that, he appeared unarmed.

Clearly he had seen my Dad leave and then Sam and Dean a while after. I had barely left the motel room and had seen no one, meaning no one had seen me either. Which meant the guy assumed he was alone right now. I would soon prove him wrong.

Without warning I stood up to my full height, shotgun aimed square at the guy's chest. My arms still shook. I felt like a wolf cub trying to puff out its fur to make it look bigger whilst staring down the alpha male.

My heart was beating double-time in my chest, fear and adrenalin surging through my body and holding me rigid, but my face betrayed nothing. The guy saw me and immediately staggered back into the wall, eyes wide. He didn't say anything, just eyed me warily and made for the switch blade in his pocket.

I took a single step toward him with a simple "Don't."

I can't pretend to know what he was thinking. The habitants had gone, leaving a seemingly empty motel room with an easy-to-bust window. However, they had also left behind a boisterous 9 year old girl with unruly hair and a fully loaded shotgun in her hands.

Range wasn't a problem in the cramped motel room and we both knew it.

"Now, now sweetie-" He stopped mid-endearment when I took another step, keeping well out of arms reach but getting the message across that he better shut up fast.

"Get. Out." Although my heart was racing in panic, the words came out as a low threat and I mentally praised myself. The guy raised his hands in defence and I could see them tremor in the low light cast by the shoddy motel room light bulb. He was scared. Good.

"Now." I added, cocking the shotgun for effect. He nodded, wise enough to keep quiet this time and slowly edged towards the open window and tumble his way out.

I kept the shotgun poised at the open window, standing stock still for what felt like forever, until I deemed it safe to yank it shut, double checking the lock afterwards. With shaky legs I made my way back to the armchair, keeping the shotgun loaded and in my lap when I finally relaxed enough to perch on the edge.

Every rustle of wind or rev of a car had me on my feet, shotgun poised.

 

.

 

Scarcely 10 minutes had passed before there was a sharp tap at the door.

"Open up Ems! We got pie!" I heard Dean's muffled shout. I threw an anxious glance at the window, put the shotgun back next to the armchair, and made hastily for the door, undoing the deadbolts and various locks with twitchy, uneasy fingers.

I opened the door, quickly catching the two boxes of pizza Sam saddled me with as they strode into the room, laughing at some joke I hadn't caught up on yet.

"Hurry up, you're letting in a draft!" Sam chided, nudging me towards the sofa and locking the door behind me.

Dean flicked the TV on then motioned for me to put the pizza next to the pie on the cluttered coffee table. I could feel the tension seeping out of my body with every chuckle and grumble Sam or Dean made. With a breath of relief I grabbed one of the boxes of pizza before sitting back onto the sofa, smushed between the two. Sam picked up my feet and twisted me so my legs were draped across his lap and I leant back against Dean's side, giving us all easy access to the food on my lap.

"You would not believe the queue at this pie place," Dean grumbled, leaning back with a huff, a slice of pizza in one hand, the other resting behind me on the back of the sofa. I could feel his voice through his chest as I was tucked under his arm. I laughed through a mouthful, sneaking a quick glance at the window that had caused me such panic. It was still locked tight, the shotgun was still primed next to the armchair and more importantly my two big brothers were back, one busy depositing pizza crumbs on my feet and the other keeping me warm.

And with them, came back the knowledge that I truly was safe and sound again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i was thinking that the chapters from now on would go something like  
> hunt part 1- hunt part 2- weechester- next hunt part 1- hunt part 2- weechester etc...  
> mainly because i love me some weechester and i want to see how their childhood could be different with emily  
> (p.s - i'm still working on the next hunt but i am deliberating where to pick up from)


End file.
